Miske is an

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ean

distilled alcoholic beverage Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

made from the

sap Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the arid regions of the Americas. The genus is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large Rosette (botany), rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Many plan ...

plants. Miske is similar to Mexican mezcal, but is made from the sap, called ''chawarmishki'' in Ecuador (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

chawar Chawar may refer to: *Chavar, city in Iran * Ghawar Field Ghawar (Arabic: الغوار) is an oil field located in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Measuring (some ), it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the ...

'' "raw" + '' mishki'' "sweet", whence the name "miske"), rather than the cooked heart (''piña''), which is used in mezcal.

History

Agave sap (''chawarmishki'', called ''

aguamiel Aguamiel ( literally ''agua'' "water" ''miel'' "honey") is the sap of the Mexican maguey plant which is believed to have therapeutic qualities. According to Native American histories, the process of obtaining aguamiel from maguey was first di ...

'' in Mexico) has been harvested for centuries by the indigenous people of Ecuador, specifically ''

Agave americana ''Agave americana'', commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe, is a flowering plant species belonging to the family Asparagaceae. It is native to Mexico and the United States, specifically Texas. This plant is widely cultiv ...

'' (called ''maguey'' in Mexico). Among other uses, it has been spontaneously fermented using wild yeasts to make ''guarango'' (Quechua; Mexican ''

pulque Pulque (; ), occasionally known as octli or agave wine, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, ...

''). Around 1970, people began to distill this, producing an agave liquor. This began to be commercialized in the 2010s, and the name "miske" was coined by Diego Mora, though some producers prefer the term "Andean agave". At the

San Francisco World Spirits Competition The San Francisco World Spirits Competition was founded in 2001 by Anthony Dias Blue as an off-shoot of the San Francisco International Wine Competition. It assesses hundreds of entrants annually (1,407 in 2013 from 63 countries) with tastings i ...

2021 competition, two miskes were awarded a gold medal (Casa Agave Silver and Reposado). , miske is not widely produced or consumed in Ecuador, but producers hope to imitate the success of tequila, making miske Ecuador's national drink, and popularizing it first in the United States, then in Ecuador. The brand Chawar is currently the only Miske available in the United States.

References

{{portalbar, Ecuador, Liquor Ecuadorian distilled drinks Agave-based drinks